Ollie is a sweet little dog we brought into our home to foster at the end of May. She was shy and scared and anxious, and the Longmont Humane Society (LHS) thought she would benefit from a little TLC. TLC is our specialty.
When she first came to our home, she was so nervous she tried to jump over our six-foot-high fence. Fortunately, she is only knee-high, so she was unsuccessful. 😄 Patience is the key to a dog like this. We stayed outside with her as she calmed down a little bit, and all we needed to do was get a hand on her and start petting her before she realized, "Oh, these guys aren't so bad. I guess I don't have to escape." She never tried to jump the fence again.
Next hurdle: stairs. Could it be that she had never climbed stairs? No, it turned out that she was just scared of new things. She saw our dog, Bella, go up and down several times, and eventually, Ollie realized that the stairs were her portal to potty, and she became a pro. (In fact, she did not have any accidents when we first brought her home—what a nice surprise!)
Her favorite thing about our home was Bella.
After only a few days, Ollie was following us everywhere. She was still a little fearful—for example, if we were all upstairs, she stayed near the top of the stairs, and if we walked past her, she'd go halfway down. But she got better every day, and it became rare for her to try to get away from us.
The couch in the living room was her safe spot. She loved to look out that window, and when we came over to sit on the couch, she let us do anything to her—pet her, hug her, kiss her on the nose or the head. She loves being petted and hugged.
Ollie also loved getting treats. Any kind. We give her soft treats, hard treats, fancy treats, plain treats—she loved them all. Watch what she does when we give her a Greenie:
For us, the holy grail was getting Ollie to come into the family room while we watched TV at night. At first, she would just stay in the living room in her safe space. After a week or so, she would "dip a toe in the water"—she would walk around the periphery of the family room—but she wouldn't "jump in." We tried to entice her with treats; she would come in to eat them and then leave again. We put a bed in the family room. She sniffed it but didn't stay. We moved it next to Bella's bed. She sniffed it but didn't stay.
Finally, after about two-and-a-half weeks—out of the blue!—she jumped up on the couch between us, put her head on Vic's lap and never left again. (Just kidding—she would always get down when we got up.)
What the pictures don't show is how soft her fur is—she is just a little ball of fluff! So luxurious! I love burying my face in her fur and running my fingers through it!
Overall, Ollie was a wonderful foster dog. Eventually, LHS decided we'd done our job as foster parents—by determining that Ollie's anxiety would indeed subside when she was part of a stable, loving home—and asked us to bring her back so she could be seen by anyone walking in to the shelter. We were heartbroken—as we always are when we let go of our foster babies—but we consoled ourselves that we'd had another successful foster. (Just kidding; there's no consoling us when we let go of a foster dog. 😢)
Now, just because we've determined that Ollie will eventually warm up to her new family, that doesn't mean she's "cured." She is still a bit fearful and anxious and will need more training, patience and TLC. But for the right family, she will be the best dog in the world.
Does all this make you want to adopt Ollie? If so, please contact the Longmont Humane Society at (303) 772-1232. If you want more information about this little love, please feel free to call or text me at (303) 746-3153 or email me at (thegrammarqueen@msn.com).
